Summers to leave Obama admin. 'soon'

From NBC's Savannah GuthrieA senior administration officials confirms Larry Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, will leave the administration "soon." It is unclear WHEN the departure will be.

A Bloomberg News story out today suggests the departure will be after the midterms, but officials have not confirmed that timing to NBC.

*** UPDATE *** Summers will leave "at the end of the year," NBC has learned.

*** UPDATE II *** The White House just announced that Summers will return to Harvard University. Said Obama in a statement: “I will always be grateful that at a time of great peril for our country, a man of Larry’s brilliance, experience and judgment was willing to answer the call and lead our economic team. Over the past two years, he has helped guide us from the depths of the worst recession since the 1930s to renewed growth. And while we have much work ahead to repair the damage done by the recession, we are on a better path thanks in no small measure to Larry’s wise counsel. We will miss him here at the White House, but I look forward to soliciting his continued advice and his counsel on an informal basis, and appreciate that he has agreed to serve as a member of the President’s Economic Advisory Board.”

Said Summers: “I will miss working with the President and his team on the daily challenges of economic policy making. I’m looking forward to returning to Harvard to teach and write about the economic fundamentals of job creation and stable finance as well as the integration of rising and developing countries into the global system.”